Ola friends! My Pi2 just isn't up to playing back H265 encoded content. Jerk-o-vision regrettably. I run LibreElec (KODI) As I see it my options are: 1) Buy something more powerful 2) Recode the content into H264 or whatnot 3) Transcode on the fly 4) ? I like option 4 best as none of the other options really appeal to me. I just don't know what option 4 is! Can I buy a license for the Pi which will handle H265 or is it just not capable enough? Is there a more powerful alternative for £50 or under? What software would you recommend to convert the H265 MKV files into H264 MKV files? Questions, questions! Much love. Cleggy.
The Pi2 lacks h.265 decoding circuitry. Your options are buy something else that CAN play the format you have, transcode everything to something the Pi2 can play, or transcode on the fly. The Pi 3 can play some h.265 files but it depends on the resolution, bitrate, profile level, whether the Pi 3 has a heatsink applied, and the phase of the moon.
personally h.265 isnt there yet in the mainstream and not enoughtech can decode it in hardware so it falls back to software decode which kills devices like the Pi Id switch to H.264 unless space is really that much of a problem. I still encode everything in H.264 as H.265 just doesn't give me the same quality. Its great for space saving - using it in things like phones, streaming etc would be hugely beneficial but for a static HTPC id prefer the quality.
